The Creature and the Mind Reader
by imagine-chancefiction
Summary: Both David Banner and Liz Smith thought that they were all alone. They believed that, that is, until a chance encounter brings them together. Befriending each other, they set out together in search of a cure for their respective conditions, coming across trouble along the way. *Hiatus as of 4/22/16-will resume soon*
1. Trespassing

**Author's Note:** Here's another story that I started a while ago, right now it's only two chapters, so after I finish editing the second chapter, I'll put it up. This chapter is set in-time with the rest of the story, meaning it's sole purpose isn't to provide a flashback, although it does introduce some background info. This whole story is inspired by the 70's TV show _The Incredible Hulk _(my favorite show ever), starring Bill Bixby, Lou Ferrigno, and Jack Colvin.

Enough fangirling from me, enjoy!

**Disclaimer:** I do not own the characters, events, etc. relating to The Incredible Hulk and any other Marvel material, of whom the rights belong to their respective owners that obviously do not include me.

* * *

I sit at a booth in a little dive in New York City. It's nothing special- four walls, that's really all there is to it. A couple of worn-out booths, a few tables with broken chairs, and an assortment of pictures flung up on the crumbling walls- that's all that this place is.

Yet, somehow, it intrigues me. Maybe I'm just fascinated that this place is still standing. You would've thought that it would have been closed down due to safety concerns. But here it is. This little restaurant, named "Zach's," is almost a metaphor for my life- still standing and going strong, even after all of the hardships that it has faced. I sigh and take a bite out of the blueberry bagel that I ordered.

I scan the little dining room with my eyes. There's an old married couple sharing the booth to the left of mine, who've looked like they have been to this restaurant ever since it opened 70 years ago. I read their minds and find that they are madly in love with each other, even after all these years. There's a little group of teens that are sitting at a bigger table across the way- they're obviously skipping school. But, at least they have the ability to do so- they each have lives, their futures relatively intact. I then turn my attention to a man sitting all alone at a tiny corner table, near the window.

From his facial expressions alone, you can tell that, in spite of having such a serious face, he's actually soft and broken on the inside. I don't need to use my telepathic abilities to know that- I see a similar face in the bathroom mirror each morning. I read his mind- or at least, I attempt to. For some reason, I cannot get through to his thoughts.

That's strange; I've never had that happen before.

The only thing that I can think of is that this man- this shattered man- is so damaged on the inside, that he has put up walls inside his mind- walls that try to hide whatever he's running from. I know that I shouldn't dig deeper, that I shouldn't try to break down his barriers, but I can only wonder if maybe, just maybe, I might be able to help this guy. So, I begin to chip away at his walls, layer by layer.

I feel guilty as I do so, but I can only hope that I might be able to console him from his troubles. I work slowly, careful to try to not set off any alarms in his mind- something that would alert him to the fact that I'm poking around in his head.

After what seems like forever, I feel the walls start to crumble. But, oh too late do I realize that the walls are tumbling down- and fast. Helpless to stunting the implosion of the man's brain-wall, I brace myself for the sudden jerking of the stranger's head, desperate to find out who is messing around with his mind. But, no- he's oblivious to everything.

I'm truly stunned. He must be so lost in his own current thoughts that he has no clue what's happening with his repressed memories. Maybe I shouldn't bring them to the light. But, for some reason, I feel an overwhelming need to help this man, this complete stranger. Carefully, gingerly, I dig through the remnants of his mind's walls. I keep charging on until, shockingly, I reach a door in his head.

Maybe that's why he didn't feel the walls tumble down- because his main focus is on keeping this door locked. I process this new information as I begin to pick the lock of his door.

A small part of me screams deafeningly to stop, to go back before it's too late, but the rest of me ignores the irritating voice and works on. It's not until I'm a split-second from opening the door that I realize that I should quit, but it's too little, too late, I'm afraid.

As soon as I hit this realization, I'm bombarded with his repressed thoughts, secrets, memories- everything. Most of it is too terrible to even begin thinking about, and I want to end it, to stop the horror- but I can't.

The pain, the loss that this man has been through, it makes my sorrows seem like a walk in the park on a sunny day. No matter how much I try to pull away, nothing that I do works. It's as if the flood gates are open, and they have absolutely no intention of closing- never again.

It's in this moment that I realize that I have started crying, tears steadily flowing down my cheeks as if they are rivers. I also notice that the man is now staring right at me, his face emotionless, but his eyes telling me another sad story.

He doesn't seem surprised or shocked, just hurt and, what almost seems to be, disappointed. I gasp, get up, and run out of the dive of a restaurant as fast as I can, emotionally compromised with the fact that that man- that unassuming guy- and I have so much more in common than I ever thought possible. We may both be freaks, but there's one thing that I never would have expected to learn in the journey to the center of his mind- that that man, that misunderstood man, is the infamous "Incredible Hulk."


	2. Meeting

**Author's Note:** Okay, I have to admit it: I suck at updating. I'm SO SORRY for promising you this second chapter and then abandoning you all for more than four months. You may shame me now, it's okay.

As a special treat for all of you waiting ever so patiently, I will be uploading TWO chapters tonight- this one and chapter three, which I have already edited, so I have no excuse to not post it. In terms of this chapter, it's pretty short, but it was supposed to be like that so that it could serve as a bridge of sorts to the next chapter. If you're upset with that, forgive me!

**Update:** At the advice of the wonderful user TohruIchi, I have decided to go back and edit this and any future chapters to be in third-person POV. Nothing new added, just a little tweaking!

**Disclaimer:** I do not own the characters, events, etc. relating to The Incredible Hulk and any other Marvel material, of whom the rights belong to their respective owners that obviously do not include me.

* * *

Liz keeps running until she reaches the end of the street, where she makes a sharp turn and heads down an alleyway. This is where she stops to catch her breath. It is not until now, however, that she realizes that this whole time, someone has been following her. She quickly backpedals onto the back steps of one of the buildings. There's luckily a huge gap between the door and the end of the side of the wall that faces the street, so when she presses herself against the big red door, she's thankfully hidden from sight.

Liz dares not peek around the corner, fearful of whom she may see coming for her. Maybe it's one of the mercenaries that her parents hired to hunt her down. She takes quiet, shallow breaths, not wanting to make any noise whatsoever.

She begins to hear gentle footsteps make their way down the alley. But why are they so soft in sound? Do they not want to be found, or do they not want to scare off whomever they're searching for?

Not wanting to waste her time asking herself pointless questions, Liz turns her attention back to the problem at hand. The hunter is most likely after her, so how to escape from certain peril? She has no time left to decide when she senses the stranger approaching the doorway.

With her mind not working properly and her reflexes taking over, as soon as the would-be assailant is within her sights, Liz springs from her hiding place and tackles him. Her vision has gone blood-red, and she uses all her muscles in order to really pin this son-of-a-gun to the pavement. Only when she realizes that he is not struggling does she actually take a step back to grab a look at who she forced to the ground. Who she sees is not who she expected it to be.

"Oh my God, Dr. Banner! I am so sorry!" Liz exclaims as she helps the doctor up from the cold stone.

He brushes himself off and huffs. "It's fine." He pauses and looks at her with a concerned expression. "What did you say?"

"I'm sorry?" Liz replies, quite confused. She's certain that the look on her face verifies how she feels.

He stalks towards her. "No. _Before_ that." He has the sternest look on his face.

"Dr. Banner?" She says, cautious to not make him angry.

"My God." He walks away while running his fingers through his hair. He stops, looks at her, and puts his hands on his head, fingers intertwined. "How do you know who I am?"

"Well," she begins. "It's a little hard to explain in so little time."

"Then give me the short and simple version."

Liz takes a deep breath, trying to figure out what to say. She then decides to say it as plainly as she can. "I'm a telepath."

"You're a telepath?" He asks while raising an eyebrow.

"Yes." She stares him right in the eye so that he knows that she's completely serious about her statement.

He frowns. "So, how did you come to have...?"

"Special abilities?" She finish his sentence for him. "It's a long, detailed story. But, then again, your story is extensive as well, Dr. Banner."

"Touché, Miss..."

"Smith." Liz replies. "Elizabeth Smith." She holds out her hand, where he proceeds to shake it.


	3. Chatting

**Author's Note:** As promised, here's chapter three! It's about triple the length of the last chapter, just to let you know, so that you all don't feel like I'm robbing you of a good story.

This one's mostly about David chatting with Liz about her past, so nothing too terribly exciting, but, after all, I MUST BUILD A PLOT!

Enjoy! :)

**Trigger Warning:** Mild mentions of past child neglect. Nothing graphic, but this is a warning for those that are sensitive to the subject.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own the characters, events, etc. relating to The Incredible Hulk and any other Marvel material, of whom the rights belong to their respective owners that obviously do not include me.

* * *

"I wasn't born with telepathic abilities. Instead, I got them in an accident, similar to you." Liz pauses while Dr. Banner takes a sip of his coffee and she takes a bite out of her now-cold bagel.

The both of them are back in "Zach's," sharing the booth that Liz had been in not five minutes ago.

Finished chewing, she continues. "The accident happened when I was about five years old. My parents... Well, they're something else. They're both scientists at a little institute up in Maine, looking for the way to tap into 'mankind's hidden abilities.'"

She chuckles a little. Then the smile falls from her face. "Both of them were completely enthralled in their work- barely enough time to spend with each other, let alone a child." She pauses. "Normally, they would just give me free roaming of the lab, oblivious to the fact that a kid was in the room. Well, at such a young age and without any proper parental guidance, I was a curious child- always getting into things that I shouldn't have. One day, I was left in the lab all alone. And, of course, with absolutely nothing better to do, I started getting into different things."

Liz leans forward. "You know how, sometimes, different chemicals and formulas can be of all sorts of colors?"

He nods. "Of course."

She leans back into the flat cushioning of the booth. "Yeah, that's where it all started. To a five-year-old child, some of those chemicals and formulas can look a lot similar to Kool-Aid."

Dr. Banner leans forward, catching on to what she was saying. "Please, tell me you didn't drink any."

She nods. "Oh, but I did! At least, only a beaker-full."

He scratches his face. "My God..."

Liz shrugs. "Yes, sir, I downed a whole 100 milliliter beaker-full of what I thought to be lemon-lime Kool-Aid. I was even oblivious to the fact that it tasted nothing like the sweet drink. And as soon as the liquid was gone, that's when my parents decided to waltz back into their lab. Having seen what I had done, they started chasing me. You see, I thought it was a game, so I ran- far and fast."

Dr. Banner frowns. "Well, what happened next?"

She takes a deep breath, and then continues. "I kept running and running and running. I basically ignored everything that my parents and their colleagues screamed at me as I raced further into the facility. You see, even though I was mostly given freedom to explore the front-half of the institute, the back was practically off-limits- to not only myself, but to more than three-quarters of the staff as well. Very few people knew what they were working on back there, my parents included in the small bunch.

"Well, I took the 'DO NOT ENTER' sign that was posted on a door as more of a suggestion than a mandatory guideline and bolted right into the middle of only what I can describe as an indoor meadow. Literally, there were flowers, grass, and trees growing all inside of a room that probably was as big as a football field! I barely noticed it in the beginning; in fact, I was too busy trying to find a hiding place among the tall grasses."

Liz pauses for a second, not only to catch her breath because she was talking way too fast (a bad habit that occurs far too often for people's liking), but also due to the fact that she was taking in the way that Dr. Banner is positioned across from her. He sits erect with a hand curled into a fist under his chin, pinky finger resting lightly on his lower lip, and with his eyes closed, presumably trying to create a mental image to match the story that she was telling him. She wonders what he imagines her to have looked like as a child.

With his eyes still closed and his back now even straighter than before, he questions, "Did you get caught?"

She lets out a small chuckle before she replies, "Oh, yes, I did. Of course I did! But, they didn't find me, however, until it was too late."

In the same manner as before, he asks, "Why was it too late?"

With him unable to see her expression, Liz reveals a sorrowful face and bows her head, while internally, she is reflecting on the last almost thirteen years of her life. Unable to look at Dr. Banner's face, she responds in a soft, tearful whisper, "Because the bomb had already gone off."

Not even looking at him sitting across the way, she can tell that his eyes just snapped open and that his body jerked a little, as the table moved ever so slightly. Also, she could tell because in his mind he was wondering what hell she meant when she just said that.

Liz slowly turns up her head to meet his eyes, and, as soon as they lock into place like the teeth of two gears meeting, she already knows what he is about to ask next.

What do you mean 'the bomb had already gone off'?" He inquires.

"I'm saying that a real bomb exploded in an area of the field near me almost right after I found a nice hiding spot in the grass." She sends back flatly.

"Then how the hell are you sitting across from me today?" He shoots the question back quickly.

"Well, it's kind of hard to explain." She tucks her chin in towards her chest, almost ashamed that she brought up a subject like this with a _scientist_ without even being able to describe what she was talking about. She treks on, or at least attempts to, in the conversation in spite of this development. "The thing that exploded, it was a bomb, but it also wasn't a typical one that goes 'boom' and then is done with. This was a special one that left something in its wake."

The man shifts forward in the booth, completely enthralled in what she is now saying. "What was left behind?"

Liz looks at him without moving her head as she states, "Nearly two million units of gamma radiation."

He now looks completely flabbergasted. "Are you telling me that you were exposed to the after effects of a gamma bomb?"

She murmurs an extremely indistinct, "Yes."

"Oh my God. How did you make it out?" He questions her now with the curiosity of both a scientist and a worried human being. She notes in her head that he is wondering in his head how she even survived the preceding explosion, never mind the wave of gamma that followed.

"What happened with me is basically exactly the same to what happened with you, Doctor," she says while gesturing to him. "My unique DNA allowed my body to absorb all of the radiation without any damaging long-term effects. As you can see, I'm perfectly fine."

"Okay, I think I understand," he begins. "You must have a similar variant in your DNA to mine, which makes us more susceptible to the unique effects of the radiation."

She nods her head. "Correct. In hindsight, you and I are not so different. Sure, I can read minds and you turn into a green rage monster, but those differences are probably due to the differing contributing factors."

He cracks a small smile. "Contributing factors such as chugging 100 milliliters of a Kool-Aid wannabe?"

She chuckles. "Exactly. I don't know how or why that is, but that's perfectly fine with me- I don't want to know."

The good doctor studies her face for a second before asking, "Elizabeth, how old are you?"

Entirely expecting the question, she replies, "I'll be eighteen in August."

Somewhat disconcerted, Dr. Banner responds, "You're very young for someone who has seen so much trouble already. Where are your parents?"

"As far as I know, they are in prison facing fifteen years without parole each for child neglect." Liz retorts. Knowing what his next question would be, she says, "After the accident, they experimented on me for almost seven years, trying to discover how and why every change that I went through happened to me. One day, an associate of theirs finally became fed up with their torturing me and reported them. The trial lasted about a year, but, even with stacked up evidence and witnesses, the majority of it seemed to get swept under the rug and they were only convicted of child neglect, when, honestly, it should have been a lot more."

He nods. "Well, you're definitely bitter about it."

Glaring at him, she counters, "If you had seen some of the crap they did to me, then you sure as hell would be bitter about it too."

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to strike a nerve." He genuinely apologizes.

Liz sighs. "It's fine, I know that you meant no harm."

Brushing a strand of fiery red hair out of her eyes, she changes the subject. "So, Doctor, what are you doing in a little dive in NYC?"

"Well, you know, just breezing through on my way to my next job. Also, you don't have to keep addressing me by my title. 'David' will suffice."

She smirks. "Okay, David. But then you are to call me 'Liz'. Elizabeth makes me feel old."

They laugh heartily, for what Liz believes to be for the first time in many months.


End file.
